It was a couple of weeks later that Sarah found the crystal Jareth had given her on her visit to see Toby. Clouds covered the sky and it had turned cool so she'd picked up her jacket before going for her usual solitary walk in the gardens before breakfast. As she'd wandered around aimlessly, she put her hands in her pockets to try and warm them up a bit and her right hand hit the crystal. Curious, she pulled the crystal out and studied it. For a while she saw nothing, a pretty glass ball, free of any imperfections. It amazed her that in Jareth's hands they could contain so much power, but here, in hers, it was no more than a pretty paperweight. As she looked at it though, she saw the distorted image of the flowers at her feet through the crystal and her thoughts turned to Hoggle and her new garden. As she wondered how the garden was coming along, the glass in her hand turned smoky and then cleared, leaving a perfect image of another garden within the crystal. Sarah stood amazed as she watched Hoggle planting some beautiful looking blood red roses. Even at this early hour he was already working. Smiling at her friend, Sarah slipped the crystal back into her pocket, not wanting to spy on him. Clearly the crystals did still hold some remnants of power. She contemplated returning it to Jareth but thought it may come in handy at some point, so she decided to keep it until he asked for it back.
At that point her stomach rumbled loudly so she turned around and head back to the warmth of the castle. As usual the table was full of a variety of food, although this early Sarah was the only one there. She'd just sat down with a warm bowl of porridge when Jareth entered and took a seat next to her, noting her jacket.
"It's quite cold out this morning." He commented pleasantly.
"And here was me thinking the Labyrinth didn't have any seasons." Sarah answered, smiling.
"Oh we have seasons, they're just a bit different to yours." Jareth clarified. "The transitions are short and the weather varies very little during a season. For the time you've been here it's been summer. Long, warm days, the occasional hot spell, a rare cloudy day, and now winter's on its way."
"You missed autumn." Sarah interrupted, grimacing at the thought of winter already.
"I said we had seasons, not that we had the seasons you're used to. Summer can last up to six months, sometimes we have an autumn, but usually it just goes straight to winter and we get a few months of snow before it thaws and we're back to summer again. Sometimes the seasons last longer, sometimes shorter, occasionally we have spring and autumn, mostly we don't. It's the transitions between the seasons you have to watch out for; rain storms, heat waves, frosts, you never know what it's going to be from one day to the next."
"That must be hard for the runners though." Sarah put in.
Jareth laughed at this. "The Labyrinth has a little compassion. As much as it loves battering us with storms, as soon as a runner enters, the Labyrinth it becomes a lovely warm summer day."
"Let's hope we have a lot of runners in the winter then." Sarah said, less than happily.
"You don't like the cold?" Jareth asked, amused.
"I miss the sun."
Jareth laughed at her again, but not mean-heartedly. At that point Amber and Hillevi entered and the three girls began to discuss the plans for the day. They'd just about decided to have a walk down the river and see if it gave them any inspiration when a fork of lightning split the sky outside, almost immediately followed by a crack of thunder. With groans of dismay the three looked out the window to see a carpet of thick, black clouds covering the sky. Even as they watched, the rain began and it was clear they wouldn't be going outside that day. Jareth had left by this point so Sarah related to the others the type of weather they could expect over the coming days. Each of them frowned at the thought of days spent inside in the library brainstorming and the inevitable boredom that would follow.
As expected, by the time the call came for lunch, all the girls were on edge. Being trapped inside had put Miranda in an even fouler mood than usual and she seemed to be gunning for Sarah. Every suggestion Sarah made, Miranda followed with a snide comment. She interrupted everyone, pulled perfectly good ideas to pieces and generally made the entire session unpleasant. Although Jenny was unquestioningly loyal to her now, the rest of the girls had slowly been moving to Sarah's side of the conflict and Sarah feared real trouble would follow if this continued. Vowing to have a serious talk with Jareth about it, Sarah tried to continue as best she could, but Miranda wasn't letting it happen. As Hillevi made a comment about one of Sarah's ideas, she stumbled over a word, struggling for the correct English translation. With a mocking laugh, Miranda taunted her for an idiot. This wasn't the first time Miranda had insulted Hillevi, but the tension of the day finally caught up with her and Hillevi let forth a torrent of Finnish in her direction. Sarah didn't understand a word of it, but she could guess it wasn't pleasant, as could Miranda.
With a yell Miranda knocked her chair over as she got to her feet. No one knew what she intended to do but immediately Sarah and Amber stood in front of Hillevi, preventing Miranda from getting anywhere near their friend. The hatred in Miranda's eyes was clear but the others didn't back down. She was outnumbered and she knew it, so, after a final glare in Hillevi's direction, Miranda stalked out of the room with Jenny following hot on her heels. For a few seconds there was a tense silence in the room, before the girls simultaneously dissolved into nervous giggles.
"That woman is really starting to get on my nerves." Amber said as she and the rest of the girls took their seats.
"You okay Evi?" Sarah asked, turning to her friend.
"Yeah I'm fine." Hillevi replied, but her voice told a different story.
"Don't take it to heart, Miranda can barely speak English and you speak two languages fluently so out of the two of you, I know who I'd lay money on to be the more intelligent." Hannah said with a smile.
Hannah was the eldest of the group. She was only a few months older than Miranda, but the difference between the two was incredible. Hannah was the self confessed 'mother' of the group, always ready with a kind word for all the girls, willing to listen if anyone needed it and a great peace-keeper amongst the smaller disputes. She stayed out of Miranda's way though. For the most part Miranda was able to rile up the girls enough for them to stand up to her themselves, and when they weren't, Sarah had begun to do it for them. Miranda's anger stemmed from her hatred of Sarah in most instances anyway, so Sarah took it upon herself personally to stop her attacking any of the other girls. Things were definitely getting worse though. Hillevi was one of the sweetest girls in the group, everyone got on with her, for Miranda to attack her was out of order. Sarah resolved to let Jareth know just how bad things were, but first she wanted to make sure her friend was okay.
"You know that wasn't aimed at you Evi." Sarah said, hugging her friend. "It's this awful weather, being stuck inside with me, it gets her riled up and she takes it out on anyone she can. Listen, tonight, you, me and Amber are going to lock ourselves in my bathroom and have a complete pampering session."
Hillevi smiled at Sarah's attempt to cheer her up. She had a tendency to take things to heart, but her friends were good at bringing her out of it. A girly night sounded great to her, and those soundproof bathrooms were great for gossiping sessions which always made her feel better. With a true smile Hillevi hugged Sarah back and turned back to the plans in front of her.
At that point the storm outside suddenly ceased and a crystal arrived from Jareth summoning Sarah to the throne room. Sarah ran out gleefully, knowing this could only mean that there was a runner in the Labyrinth, glad that not only would she get away from Miranda for the afternoon, but that the weather would ease as well, allowing the other girls to get out for a while.
Sure enough, she reached the throne room just as Jareth arrived with a sobbing child in his arms. Sarah stopped in the entrance and studied the child. He looked to be about five years old, filthy hair and clothes and he was deeply distressed over something. Seeing Sarah, Jareth inclined his head to beckon her over, handing the child to her wordlessly. Almost immediately the boy's sobs quietened as Sarah's natural motherly instincts took over. Jareth created a chair for her next to his throne and they both took a seat, Sarah cradled the child as Jareth produced a crystal so they could both watch the run.
"His older brother." Jareth informed her, as a picture of a boy around fifteen years old appeared in the crystal.
He was as filthy as the boy in her arms, but he was angry, very angry. Sarah watched silently as he punched and kicked the wall to the Labyrinth in an attempt to get in, constantly shouting and swearing at it. Unconsciously she held the boy in her arms tighter, wanting to protect him from the boy in the crystal.
"Runaways." Jareth continued quietly. "John pretty much kidnapped little Eric here, they've been living on the streets for a few weeks now." There was anger in his voice at John's treatment of his little brother. "For a while John provided food but now he wants Eric to go begging, thinks he'll have more luck. When Eric got scared and refused this morning, John hit him, and it wasn't the first time."
Sarah could see the anger increasing, his knuckles were white he was gripping the crystal that hard. She laid a comforting hand on his arm and after a few seconds Jareth let out the breath he'd been holding, most of his anger draining out with it.
"He won't win." He added quietly. "Eric will stay here."
Realising Eric had gone quiet, Sarah looked down to find the child looking at the image of his brother in the crystal in fear. He seemed to realise he was safe for now, but was clearly worried that John would return.
"Right," Sarah said, standing up and standing Eric before her. "You must be hungry, what do you want to eat?"
For a while Eric was silent, not really knowing what was going on, then quietly he requested some chips.
"Chips it is then." Sarah said happily, summoning a goblin to fetch some.
As soon as Gree came running in, having been waiting outside as he did whenever Sarah watched a runner, a change came over Eric. No longer was he the sad, quiet, scared child, suddenly Sarah could see the happy kid that he'd obviously been before John had made him run away. Pointing at Gree, Eric turned to Sarah excitedly and said,
"'s a goblin!"
"That's right Eric, he's called Gree."
"Hi Gree." Eric said, waving erratically at the little goblin who stood looking at him with a rather confused expression on his face.
"So Gree, Eric here would like some chips, can you bring him some please?"
"And bring some other goblins back with you to help keep Eric entertained." Jareth called out. "Please."
With a ridiculous looking bow, no doubt trying to impress Eric, Gree ran out of the room. Sarah was glad to see that Jareth was sticking with his promise to be polite and even more happy that Gree no longer injured himself in shock whenever it happened. Gree returned before long with some other goblins and Eric was soon happily tucking into a bowl of chips, alternatively eating them and feeding them to the various goblins that danced around him. Sarah had her own lunch brought up and got Jareth some too. He had a disturbing habit of forgetting things like food and drink when there was a runner in the Labyrinth.
As the time passed, Sarah alternated between occasionally watching John, but more often playing with Eric and the goblins. Jareth sat watching Sarah interact with Eric and couldn't help but smile. She was born to be a mother, he just hoped she got the chance to be so. The Labyrinth may not have any available suitors for her, but the surrounding lands certainly did. Not that Jareth wanted to lose her so soon, she worked hard and the Labyrinth no longer resembled the wasteland it had been becoming when she'd first arrived. He didn't want to think about the fact that he didn't want her to leave for more personal reasons. It had been a long time since he'd had an actual friend. Being the Goblin King didn't leave much time for socialising and Jareth enjoyed the time he spent with Sarah, he didn't want her going away any time soon.
At that point John finally managed to make his way into the Labyrinth. A quick glance at the clock told Jareth that five hours had already passed; there was no way that John would get his brother back. The thought made Jareth smile.
It took John another two hours to find his way into the stone maze and then he spent another three hours wandering aimlessly. He wasn't even trying by this time, he had no real desire to win his brother back, but his stubbornness wouldn't let him just wait the thirteen hours out, and they were a long thirteen hours. Jareth didn't bother interacting with him at all, neither did any of the residents of the Labyrinth. Sarah gave up watching the crystal, John's run wasn't inspiring her in the least, and she was enjoying entertaining Eric far too much. He was a very lively child, all his woes from life with his brother already forgotten as he played pleasantly with the mischievous goblins.
Eventually though, with only three hours left, John reached the distraction challenge Sarah had set. Jareth called her over and Sarah left Eric to play ball with the goblins, although she was getting increasingly worried that they planned to use Gree as the ball as soon as Sarah's back was turned.
Reaching the fork in the path with the two removed flagstones, John soon knelt down and looked into the left hole. Instantly he recoiled with a yell of pain as the goblin beneath the path stabbed his nose with a sewing needle it was using as a sword. John was soon back to ground level, shouting at the goblin which was then joined by the goblin in the other hole, both of which were giving as good as they got.
Sarah found herself laughing along as the two goblins alternated between insulting and injuring the boy.
"You calla me little gnome, I poke out your eye you son of a fruit bat." One goblin said, hurling his needle at the boys face.
John deflected it easily but in doing so he wasn't paying any attention to the other goblin.
"This our walka walka, you no walka on it, I take out knees, then see how you fragging walka!" It said, simultaneously stabbing John in the knee with another needle before diving back into the hole.
John immediately ran to that hole, sticking his arm inside trying to find the goblin, not noticing when the goblin appeared in the other hole and both goblins crept out and up to where he lay sprawled, one arm fishing in the other hole. Carefully lifting up another flagstone, the goblins pulled out a length of dental floss. Sarah couldn't help but wonder where they got these items, assuming they simply stole them off unsuspecting runners. The goblins pinned one end under the stone they'd retrieved it from, ran the floss over John's legs and pinned the other end under another flagstone.
Sarah knew there was no way those flagstones were heavy enough to hold John down, but she also knew that the Labyrinth could be just as mischievous as the goblins, and if it wanted the goblins trick to work, the floss would stay secure. Sure enough, when both goblins stabbed John's ankles with their needles, simultaneously taunting him as a 'cocktail shrimp on a stick', he tried to jump up, his knees stayed where they were and he fell back down, hitting his chest hard on the pavement, his face landing in the hole and getting a handful of dirt stuffed into his mouth by another goblin that had joined in the torment. Sarah laughed as he tried to free himself and fend off the two original goblins at the same time, only to find the third goblin sat on his head with fists full of hair telling him to 'sit, horsey, sit'.
A short scuffled followed in which John ended up falling head first into the hole before finally freeing himself and standing up. For a second Sarah worried that he would hurt the goblins; he'd hit his own brother, she knew he was more than capable of it, but John had forgotten about the goblin that was still sat on his head. As John lifted a foot, intent on kicking one of the goblins, the goblin on his head yanked his hair hard, throwing him off balance, and a fourth goblin appeared, ran up behind John and launched itself at the back of his knee, knocking him flat on his face. The two original goblins started running up at down his back, repeatedly stabbing him and singing 'your mother is an aardvark' over and over again. The two new goblins were pulling all the stitches out of the boys jacket while another goblin appeared and began removing John's shoe laces. As more minute goblins appeared to harass the boy, he decided he'd had enough, shook them all off and ran off down the left hand path, leaving his right jacket sleeve and left shoe with the goblins who were now all jumping up and down cheering.
Both Sarah and Jareth were laughing enthusiastically at the entire show, as were a few of the goblins that were lounging on the back of the throne in order to watch. Eric was still distracted, for which Sarah was thankful. As much as he feared his brother, Sarah imagined seeing the torment would have upset him.
"Well your task appears to have been a success." Jareth said once he stopped laughing. "Those goblins managed to distract him for a whole half an hour."
"You might want to ask them to tone the torment down though." Sarah said.
"He deserved all he got and that's only what the goblins will ever a give. A nicer runner will just be confused by them, but John needed to lose a fight for once, he's too used to bullying those smaller than he."
A frown crossed Jareth's face as he looked over at Eric.
"Well he won't have a chance to do that again." Sarah said soothingly. "What's going to happen to Eric though?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well John won't win him back, but what about his parents? From what you said, Eric didn't want to run away, and they must be worried sick."
"They won't remember him Sarah, just like any other child who loses a sibling, all memory's are erased."
"That's hardly fair." Sarah put in, anger building up inside of her. "If they're good parents, they shouldn't have to lose their child, whether they'll remember him or not."
"The rules are clear Sarah." Jareth's anger rose to match hers.
"The rules are wrong!"
"They are what they are."
"Then change them. Give Eric back to his parents, why deny him the chance of his real family?"
"And why deny a Fae couple the chance to have a child? Eric's parent's raised John too and they didn't do a very good job of it, look at him." Jareth shouted, pointing to the crystal where John was once again wreaking havoc on the walls in an attempt to get out of the dead end he'd found his way into.
"That means nothing, sometimes kids go bad. Look at Eric, he's a sweet kid, without his brother he could continue to be so. Give him back, you know it's right."
"Right or wrong, those parents made their choices and they led to them losing both of their sons. In two hours Eric will belong to me and I will give him to a Fae couple who can't have children of their own."
Sarah and Jareth stood facing up to each other, the anger simmering between them, neither willing to back down. It was only then that they heard the whimpering coming from across the room. The anger left Sarah instantly, replaced by guilt. All the goblins had stopped playing to listen to the argument between their King and the girl who had too much power over him, and so had Eric. He was old enough to know exactly what they were saying, and it wasn't just the angry atmosphere that had him upset.
In an instant Sarah had him in her arms but the tears were already pouring from his eyes. Jareth knew at the moment that he'd lost the argument. Erasing a child's mind was a dangerous thing due to the fact that it was still growing, so Jareth tried to avoid. After a few months Underground most children forgot their past lives anyway, allowing the magic of this world to erase their pain. Yet Eric didn't have any pain associated with his parents, only his brother, and Jareth knew if he gave Eric to a Fae couple now, he'd never forget his parents and he'd never be truly happy. Better to give him back now, if things started going wrong later... Well Eric was his and he'd take him back anyway.
With a sigh Jareth walked over to where Sarah knelt comforting Eric and placed a friendly hand on the child's head.
"It's okay Eric, you're going back to your parents in a few short hours."
"John?" Eric asked quietly through his easing sobs.
"You won't see him again."
Instantly the tears were gone, although they were not soon replaced by a smile. Sarah gave him one last hug before he went back to playing with the goblins. Standing up, Sarah turned to face Jareth, fearing some punishment. He was after all the King.
"I'm sorry Jareth." She apologised, and she meant it.
"Don't apologise, you see the human side of this world that I do not. Sometimes I think we need someone like you here."
"Well you've got me." Sarah said, happier now that it had all been resolved. "And I'm not going anywhere, so you can look forward to many more arguments to come."
Jareth laughed at her answer, and Sarah smiled back, both glad their disagreement was over. The remaining hours of John's run passed quickly and he was sent back out to the streets he'd come from. Sarah wasn't too happy with this but there was nothing she could do. John had made the decision to run away and she knew she couldn't send him back to his parents to torment Eric again. She made Jareth promise he'd put John in the path of a charity for runaways, but she still wasn't convinced it would turn out well. Nevertheless, Eric was sent back home and his parents were overjoyed to have him back. Jareth implanted memories of a police officer finding and returning Eric, but with no news of John. The last part upset the parents, but the joy at Eric's return soon overcame them again.
Sarah watched the whole scene though a crystal with Jareth and couldn't help but smile at Eric's obvious happiness to be home. A glance at the clock showed them the girls would probably all be in bed and Sarah felt guilty that she'd missed the girly night she'd promised Hillevi. With a quick goodnight and final thanks to Jareth for allowed Eric to go home, Sarah head back to her bedroom and quickly changed and brushed her teeth before going to bed, promising herself that she'd spend some quality time with Hillevi the next day.
